Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani trails both his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh and al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden on the list of the world's most powerful persons complied by Forbes magazine.
Gilani was ranked 38th in the 67-person list, one slot behind bin Laden and two notches below Singh. "Less powerful than bin Laden -- can't find him in his own country. Oversees Pakistan's fledgling civilian government, ceded responsibility for tracking down terrorists to military. Busy fending off Obama, Taliban, al Qaeda, deposed militant groups," read the note describing the 57-year-old Gilani on Forbes' website.
The magazine noted that Gilani "still has (the) keys to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal".
US President Barrack Obama heads the list of the world's most powerful persons, which includes heads of states, philanthropists and also criminals and terrorists.
The top five powerful persons on the list, apart from Obama, are Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian premier Vladimir Putin, US Federal Reserve chairman Ben S Bernanke and Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, November 16, 2009, 15:29